


you are a believer (i am not)

by whyyesitscar



Category: Glee
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-25
Updated: 2013-05-25
Packaged: 2017-12-12 23:24:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/817272
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whyyesitscar/pseuds/whyyesitscar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Finally having her baby feels like relief in a lot of different ways. Unseen moments from Quinn's pregnancy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	you are a believer (i am not)

**Author's Note:**

> I don't really remember the order of houses Quinn stayed at while she was pregnant, but let's just pretend it goes this way. Title and lyrics at the beginning taken from "Believer" by Susanna and The Magical Orchestra.

**didn't think you would trust me;**   
**thought you would see what i see.**   
**these days have been good for me too, but i can't stay.**   
**you know why.**

Including you, there are five people in the delivery room. You only expected three of them. 

(Soon there will be six and you still haven't decided how you feel about that. You don't think Shelby has, either.)

/

Everything was frantic when the labor pains kicked in, and with thirteen people pushing you through the hospital, it probably couldn't be any other way. It was kind of nice, having an entourage (albeit one that screamed at anyone in the way), until everything started hurting and then nothing was nice. 

Nothing is nice for a long time after that, but you won't discover that until later. 

The doctor said you could pick two people to be with you, and you glared until he bumped it to three. Mercedes was the surprise, but only retroactively. At the time, you couldn't have imagined going through it without her. Puck and your mom are great, but Mercedes is more compassionate than anyone gives her credit for. She's an empath, you think, like Brittany. Only Brittany is more transparent. 

You've never moved as much as you have while pregnant. It's probably a bad thing to do and maybe it's going to turn your kid into some kind of transient rebel, but she will only be your kid for a few hours (if that).

If you think about that for too long, you get all soul-searchy and weird. 

/

Puck's mom never really liked you. She's the only parent who doesn't. Quinn Fabray is always a hit with parents. She wears cardigans and headbands, has a nice smile and when she asks how they're doing, parents always believe that she means it. 

Maggie Puckerman doesn't believe you for a second. 

She's the kind of mother you expected Puck to have—cynical and a little brash, the effect of being burned by too many men. You don't expect her to be so shrewd. You think she's what Puck could be if he didn't spend most of his energy trying to compensate for his fractured pride. Maggie doesn't know about Lucy, but she takes one look at you and sees through to something you'd rather hide. 

You're the kind of girl who could absolutely take advantage of Puck and Maggie sees it right away. 

Puck's kid sister Sarah adores you, but you don't stay.

It's okay; you've got two weeks of bacon to catch up on. 

/

It takes you three days to look Mercedes's parents in the eye. 

She's the one person in Glee you know absolutely nothing about. You know Brittany, Santana, Finn, and Puck more than you'd like, and everyone else has their story on their sleeves—Kurt the queen; Tina the stutterer; Artie the cripple; Matt and Mike, the football players; Rachel the…just Rachel. 

But you don't know what makes Mercedes tick. You don't know that her mother is a professional chef, and being married to her dentist father results in some of the most adorable arguments you've ever heard. You don't know that her brother goes to OSU and gives some of the greatest hugs ever. You don't know that every night is family dinner night. It's messy and loud and full of laughter. 

You don't know all these things until you do, and then it becomes unbearable. Kind of like how you don't want to leave until you do. 

You could have stayed at the Jones house indefinitely. 

It's why you don't. 

/

Finn's mom is not Puck's mom. She isn't your mom either. 

You miss your sister. 

/

It hurts. It hurts more than you prepared for. (Inside, a part of you finally feels balanced.) Your mom pats your head and Puck can't seem to breathe evenly and Mercedes is perched by your ear, whispering words of encouragement the whole time. 

Puck cries when everything's over. You laugh and almost pass out. 

You ask him not to let anyone see her (you don't want them to get attached), but he snaps a picture anyway. Your mother kisses you on the forehead and for a moment you can pretend that she does this every day. 

Once everything is settled, they all leave. 

You are alone in a hospital with a baby in your lap and you don't know what to do. 

/

You have three hours. 

For three uninterrupted hours, she is Baby Girl Fabray. 

Then Shelby shows up and turns her into Beth. 

That's when you start to cry. 

/

You sleep better that night than you have in almost a year. 


End file.
